


Make My Getaway

by LibraryMage



Series: Ktavnukkah 5778 [5]
Category: Leverage
Genre: Autistic Character, Gen, Ktavnukkah, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-15 21:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13040007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LibraryMage/pseuds/LibraryMage
Summary: When she was eleven, Parker ran away in the middle of the night.  Six years later, she does it again.





	Make My Getaway

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Ktavnukkah day five. Prompt: night.
> 
> Warning for references to past child abuse.

Parker traced her fingers along the cool glass as she stared out the window.  The apartment Archie had put her up in didn’t have much of a view, but in between two buildings across the street, she could see a sliver of the night sky, stars twinkling light-years away.

Parker had always liked the night.  It was when she did her best work.  People always let their guard down at night, even security guards whose job it was to keep watch over museums and banks.  At night, there were more shadows to hide in, and for someone as small as her, always working on her own, hiding was usually safer than fighting.

She’d run away from her last foster home in the middle of the night.  That would have been about six years ago now.  She’d kicked her foster dad when he’d grabbed her while she was on the verge of a meltdown, and then she’d been locked in a tiny room in the basement for two days straight, only let out twice a day to use the bathroom.  After two days, they’d let her out.  That night, she’d snuck through the house with a backpack she’d stolen from her foster mom, stuffed with the few clothes she owned, some food and cash she’d stolen, and Bunny.  She’d slipped out the back door, so good at being quiet after years of trying to make herself as unnoticed as possible, and disappeared into the night.

The memory floated to the surface of her mind, of how miserable she’d been there, how much she’d hated her foster parents and foster siblings, how free and happy she’d felt when she left, even though she didn’t know where she was going or what she would do next.  It was less than a year later that Archie had found her.  He’d said he saw something in her, a natural talent, and he could help her hone it.  Six years later, Parker was certain she was almost a better thief than he was, though she’d never say that out loud.  Normal people, grown-ups especially, never seemed to like it when you acted like you _knew_ you were good at something.

Snapping herself out of her half-trance, Parker pulled her hand away from the window, walked across to the room to the closet, and pulled out a backpack.  She stared into it for a moment.  She’d done this before.  She’d stare into the empty bag, running through a list of essentials in her head, but she’d always throw it back into the closet in the end.  She had it good here.  She was only seventeen, so if she was caught on her own, she could go back into the system.  She shouldn’t leave.

But tonight was different.  Parker didn’t know why, but it was.  She shoved a few changes of clothes into her backpack, then knelt down and pried away the baseboard at the back of the closet, revealing the hollows she’d carved into the wall.  She quickly removed the cash she’d hidden there and shoved it into her bag.  Finally, she raced back to her bed, shoved Bunny into the bag, and zipped it shut.

Parker settled the backpack on her shoulders and walked toward the door.  She hesitated for a moment before opening it and stepping out into the hallway.

In the elevator, she shifted from foot to foot and tugged at the straps of her backpack, both from nerves and excitement.  The woman who entered on the floor below her shot her a strange look, but Parker was too keyed-up to care.  Besides, she was used to strange looks.  No matter how invisible she tried to make herself, there were always little things that people noticed.

Within moments, Parker reached the ground floor and braced herself before stepping out of the building.  Without looking back, she turned the nearest corner and disappeared into the night once again.


End file.
